KDBookOnline
Share Us
The back door.
The servants’ entrance from the kitchen yard, left unbolted and opening, then closing. She felt light-headed with horror. Whoever had rung the bell hadn’t gone away but had come round and let himself in. In a moment, he would take the few paces along the passage, and see her, pressed against the wall on the staircase. Hiding. Helpless.
She heard him exhale. Closing her eyes, she clamped her lips together, biting back the whimper that almost escaped her as his footsteps advanced.
‘Jesus—’
Jem’s voice. She opened her eyes as the breath she had been holding escaped her in a rush.
A sob.
In a second, he had crossed the little space between them and taken hold of her upper arms, gentle but firm. ‘What’s wrong? Did something happen?’
She couldn’t speak. She wanted to laugh and say no, that the ring of the doorbell had just caught her by surprise, but the words were stuck in her throat and she could only shake her head as tears brimmed and coursed down her cheeks.
He held her then. Slowly, carefully, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, he folded her into his arms, so she was cradled against his chest as she shuddered and gasped and her tears soaked his shirt. All the pent-up fear and fury of the last nine years came spilling out, and he rested his cheek against her hair and told her that she was safe.
Bit by painful bit, the panic ebbed and reality reasserted itself. She couldn’t look at him as she pulled away, scrubbing her cheeks with the flat of her hand, clutching her flimsy gown around herself, horrified at her state of undress. Not only her clothes but her mask. The professional carapace she had created, stripped away and shattered.
‘Oh God, I’m so sorry,’ she croaked. ‘I was just going to bathe, and then the door—’
He stood back, turning tactfully away so he wasn’t looking at her.
‘You don’t have to explain. As long as you’re all right.’
‘Someone rang the bell. I thought—’
‘It was tourists, on bicycles. I met them on the drive. They wanted to see round the house.’ He smiled wryly. ‘The housekeeper of Chatsworth was most obliging in giving them a tour there the other day, apparently.’
‘Tourists? You’re sure?’ Doubt lingered. If it was one of Alec’s men looking for her, would he ask for her directly? Or would he spin a story to gain access to the house?
Jem shrugged. ‘I sent them up to look at the church. Told them about the tiger’s grave. Come on—I’ll show you.’
She should go back to her room and get dressed, but if she didn’t see for herself the seed of disquiet would remain and grow. He didn’t look round as she followed him up the back stairs, and she took advantage of the gloom to fasten the ties of her gown securely, as if that could make up for her lack of corset, her unstockinged legs and bare feet. On the second floor he led her along the ladies’ corridor, where the rooms looked out towards the church on the hill. Going into the Jaipur Suite he crossed to the window.
‘See. There they are.’
She could just make out bicycles propped by the gate and the figure of a woman moving amongst the gravestones. A moment later, in the shade of the yew tree, she spotted the man she had seen at the window. He looked harmless. Not frightening at all.
Just tourists.
She let out a breath. Jem had moved away, and she leaned her forehead on the cool glass, closing her eyes, wondering how she was ever going to come back from this.
‘So…’ His voice came from somewhere behind her. ‘Did you get a chance to bathe?’
She gave an awkward laugh. ‘No.’
A second later, she heard the sound of cascading water and spun round, her mouth falling open. He had gone into the dressing room and turned on the taps in the cast-iron bath. The soon-to-be Lady Hyde’s brand-new, never-used cast-iron bath.
‘What are you doing?’
‘It makes sense to try it out, don’t you think?’
He had to raise his voice over the splash of water. There was something exhilarating about it—the instant, effortless achievement of something that had previously required such arduous labour—and it was as if he had conjured it himself, through some power of his own.
She gave a gasp of incredulous laughter. ‘You can’t…! I can’t. These are Lady Hyde’s rooms—’
‘Not yet.’ He shrugged. ‘There is no Lady Hyde yet. There isn’t even anyone else here. This huge house is all yours. No one will disturb you. No one will know.’